Ouch! Google is Killing Off Finance Portfolios. What Are Your Alternatives?
By J. McMahonon 06/15/2023 |
I'm sure how many of you geeks are lucky enough to dabble in the stock market. Hopefully, more than a few. Before computer science, my original background was economics and banking, so stock trading has been a hobby of mine for quite some time.
During that time I've grown to rely on Google Finance to track not only which investments but investments over time. With Google Finance, you can see the plus/minus at a glance, but your cost basis, and all related news to that stocks. Further, historical data in chart format, albeit in flash charts, but still very handy. I was disappointed and annoyed to read this.
Google is allowing users to download their data until November 15., 2017. However, finding an alternative is proving hard. Yahoo finance is the next biggest site and is a great resource. Yahoo has an Online portfolio manager, but it cannot import your data. So you will have to enter it all by hand and lose any historical data. MSN Financial is a joke.
Morning Star, one of my favorite sites, also has a portfolio manager and it can import some of the data via the download CSV from Google. However, again, it will not import you historical data like cost basis or overall profit and loss not can you add it in later. On the plus side they do show their rating for the fund and - for premium subscribers - reports on the stocks and funds in your portfolio.
Bloomberg has a Watch List that you can add trades too - but it's not exactly good. TradingView looks really nice and has a great stock screener. However, instead of a portfolio you set up a "watchlist" and if you would like mulitple watch list you have to buy the Pro version for $9.95 per month.
I searched maybe 20 other sites - all were either sub-par and wanted to access my bank accounts to register (Yeah, right.)... or charge a pricy fee. Then I stumbled on Wikinvest which not only has a slick portfolio feature but the data and reporting excellent! You can link securely directly to your portfolio and sync the data. Done and the data is lept up to date. You cannot trade with Wikinvest, so linking does not put your portfolio at risk. If you prefer, you can enter the data by keyboard into their form. I could not find a way to import the Google finance backup - which surprised me. However, the stocks/funds are input on a name/shares/cost basis format. Given that Google Finance has that data right in front of you, adding a new portfolio is easy and keeps your historical data. The drawback here is although the site works very well, there are signs it is not maintained daily. For example, there are broken links to their help desk, the copyright notice at the bottom of the site haven't updated since 2012, some of the thumbnails are missing and the email I sent to support bounce back because the quota was full. But given that the site is feed based - I can see where the markers just put the thing on autopilot.
On the desktop end, you could use Money Manager. It has a nice setup and investment feature. However, although they allow a CSV import of your downloaded Google Finance data - the column names are not customizable, so it is better to re-add the data by hand. The big plus side here is having your data local - means you always have your data.
Many are speculating as to why Google Finance is revamping the site and dropping portfolios altogether. The one theory I've read that I would love to see is that Google may somehow integrate Robinhood Financial into Google Finance. Google has a stake in Robinhood which is a commission-free investment platform that makes money only on uninvested deposit funds. (You can join a subscription service if you like) Yes - You read it 100% commission free. It's awesome, I use it, and it is super easy. If that is something that interests you feel free to sign up with this link and we both could end up with a free share of stock! USA Only, I believe. Thanks in advance.
I doubt that speculation is correct though as Robinhood is primarily an phone app-based system - but you never know. If it happens, many brokerage houses will be quaking in the boots.
There ya have it. ef you know of a better site or have other ideas please drop them in the comments below.
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During that time I've grown to rely on Google Finance to track not only which investments but investments over time. With Google Finance, you can see the plus/minus at a glance, but your cost basis, and all related news to that stocks. Further, historical data in chart format, albeit in flash charts, but still very handy. I was disappointed and annoyed to read this.
Google is allowing users to download their data until November 15., 2017. However, finding an alternative is proving hard. Yahoo finance is the next biggest site and is a great resource. Yahoo has an Online portfolio manager, but it cannot import your data. So you will have to enter it all by hand and lose any historical data. MSN Financial is a joke.
Morning Star, one of my favorite sites, also has a portfolio manager and it can import some of the data via the download CSV from Google. However, again, it will not import you historical data like cost basis or overall profit and loss not can you add it in later. On the plus side they do show their rating for the fund and - for premium subscribers - reports on the stocks and funds in your portfolio.
Bloomberg has a Watch List that you can add trades too - but it's not exactly good. TradingView looks really nice and has a great stock screener. However, instead of a portfolio you set up a "watchlist" and if you would like mulitple watch list you have to buy the Pro version for $9.95 per month.
I searched maybe 20 other sites - all were either sub-par and wanted to access my bank accounts to register (Yeah, right.)... or charge a pricy fee. Then I stumbled on Wikinvest which not only has a slick portfolio feature but the data and reporting excellent! You can link securely directly to your portfolio and sync the data. Done and the data is lept up to date. You cannot trade with Wikinvest, so linking does not put your portfolio at risk. If you prefer, you can enter the data by keyboard into their form. I could not find a way to import the Google finance backup - which surprised me. However, the stocks/funds are input on a name/shares/cost basis format. Given that Google Finance has that data right in front of you, adding a new portfolio is easy and keeps your historical data. The drawback here is although the site works very well, there are signs it is not maintained daily. For example, there are broken links to their help desk, the copyright notice at the bottom of the site haven't updated since 2012, some of the thumbnails are missing and the email I sent to support bounce back because the quota was full. But given that the site is feed based - I can see where the markers just put the thing on autopilot.
On the desktop end, you could use Money Manager. It has a nice setup and investment feature. However, although they allow a CSV import of your downloaded Google Finance data - the column names are not customizable, so it is better to re-add the data by hand. The big plus side here is having your data local - means you always have your data.
Many are speculating as to why Google Finance is revamping the site and dropping portfolios altogether. The one theory I've read that I would love to see is that Google may somehow integrate Robinhood Financial into Google Finance. Google has a stake in Robinhood which is a commission-free investment platform that makes money only on uninvested deposit funds. (You can join a subscription service if you like) Yes - You read it 100% commission free. It's awesome, I use it, and it is super easy. If that is something that interests you feel free to sign up with this link and we both could end up with a free share of stock! USA Only, I believe. Thanks in advance.
I doubt that speculation is correct though as Robinhood is primarily an phone app-based system - but you never know. If it happens, many brokerage houses will be quaking in the boots.
There ya have it. ef you know of a better site or have other ideas please drop them in the comments below.
comments powered by Disqus
